Field
Example embodiments in general relate to an animal health monitoring, diagnosis and maintenance system for automated nutrition and hydration data collection, food and water consumption tracking, reporting, and to pet food production, distribution and supply chain management to maximize the health of animals.
Related Art
Any discussion of the related art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such related art is widely known or forms part of common general knowledge in the field.
It is well known that pet animals, such as pet dogs and cats, should consume appropriate amounts of food and water each day as a means of improving or maintaining proper health and weight throughout their lives. Poor pet nutrition management increases long term health care costs for pet owners, and shortens the pets' lives considerably when compared to the pets' healthy peers.
Literature teaches that improper pet nourishment and hydration are largely attributable to pet owner ignorance because there exists no simple and reliable system or method of precisely calculating the correct daily calories and water that should be, or in fact are consumed by each unique animal.
Another problem in the pet food industry is the high frequency, liability exposure and expense of food recalls by manufacturers due to the discovery of food contaminants harmful or potentially fatal to the pets. Today, pet food passes through many links in the supply chain, and the time it takes to move the food from producer to consumer can be many months resulting in broad geographic distribution of pet food, and leaving food producers and pets vulnerable to poor and untimely supply chain management.
Yet another problem is the ergonomically incorrect design and positioning of cat and dog food and water bowls for the most comfortable and natural eating. Additionally, poor design contributes to poor sanitation and the transfer of potentially harmful pathogens or contaminates between the food and water bowls to the owner's hands, or the transfer of contaminates form the owners' hands to the pet food or water.